Blue-flame oil-stove.



c. s. CANNON.

BLUE FLAME OIL STOVE, APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1910.

Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

7 Inventor Attorneys Witnesses 4/ C. S. CANNON.

BLUE FLAME OIL STOVE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1910.

Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

2 sums-sum 2.

\N L. 3333 :QODOQQQ QOOQQQOQ eGQ Dee soaooaoe 1 Witnesses CORODON S. CANNON, 0F BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN.

BLUE-FLAME OIL-STOVE.

arenas.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 3, 1910.

Patented Dec. 27, 1910. Serial No. 559,110.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CononoN S. CANNON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Battle Creek, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Blue-Flame Oil-Stove, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to what are known as blue flame oil stoves in which a vapor burner is employed characterized by a firing pan containing a wick, and above which pan are located concentric perforated combustion tubes, between which tubes imperfect combustion takes place, air being admitted into the space between said tubes to mix with the resulting gas, whereby a blue flame is produced at the discharge end of the space. In order to obtain the best results in a burner of this kind, the oil must be early reduced to crude vapor, and then correctly compounded with air in the firing pan, before a perfect flame can be produced. The gas must later on be mixed with a larger, yet limited, quantity of air previously heated to a high degree, the heat to be generated by one and the same flame, to carry on the sub sequent process of combustion, and to produce the greatest amount of heat from a given quantity of oil, and with the least possible care, expense, trouble, odor and smoke, and that the volume and character of the flame may be quickly and easily controlled.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a burner possessing all of the advantages herein enumerated, and to this end it consists in a novel construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the stove. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the stove and the burner. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the oil feed cup.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the firing pan is shown as annular in form, and having vertical alls 10, at the top of which walls are concentric horizontal shoulders 11 and 12 respectively, forming seats for the respective combustion tubes 13 and 14, and said shoulders having upstanding marginal flanges 15. The shoulder 11 is at the outer circumference of the pan, and the shoulder 12 is at the inner circumference. As thepan is annular, a central air passage is formed.

In the pan is mounted a wick 1G comprising a doubled strip of asbestos clot-h of such a width that its top edge is low down in the pan. This wick serves the usual purpose of a lighting wick, and also to regulate the seat of the flame lower down in the pan than usual, and approximately at the shoulders 11 and 12.

The combustion tubes 13 and 14 are perforated and arranged concentric and in spaced relation as usual. The outer tube is open at both ends. The inner tube is open at its lower end, and closed at its upper end by an imperforate partition 17. Within said inner tube, substantially midway between its upper and lower ends, is located a perforated horizontal partition 18, held in place by cross pins 19 passing through both tubes, and above and below the partition. The inner tube is slightly shorter than the outer tube, and its upper end is located a short distance below the upper end of the outer tube. lVhen so seated the lower ends of the tubes fit snugly within the flanges 15, which prevent air from entering the space bet-ween the tubes at this point.

The firing pan is rigidly mounted on a horizontally extending oil supply pipe 20, there being registering openings 9]. in said pipe and in the bottom of the pan through which the oil enters the latter. The pan is located on one side of a perpendimilar intersecting the supply pipe.

To the supply pipe, adjacent to the point of its connection with the firing pan, is rigidly secnred a laterally extending horizontal arm 22 which serves as a support for that portion of the firing pan which is farthest from the pipe 20.

The oil supply pipe 20 is rotatably mounted in bearings 22 secured to a support comprising a casing having a top 23, closed side walls 24 and end walls 25 having openings 26. The casing is open at the bottom. In the top of the casing, under the burner, is an opening. The supply pipe is made rotatable so that the firing pan can be tilted upwardly and downwardly to correct or change the oil level therein, and to regulate the size of the flame at will.

The ends of the oil supply pipe 20 are bent upwardly, as indicated at 28 and 29 and closed by caps 30. This prevents the oil from entering said caps, and thus eliminates leakage if the latter should be loose,

the caps being removable so that oil may be poured into the pipe to flush the same, and clean out sediment etc. The longer upturned end 28 of the pipe is designed to serve as a handle for rotating the pipe, and it also makes a head of oil to flush the pipe. The extent of rotary movement of the pipe is limited by the arm 29 which is adapted to engage the top 23 of the casing.

At 31 is indicated the oil reservoir of the stove, said reservoir comprising a rectangular or other suitably shaped tank supported a short distance above the oil supply pipe 20 by standards 32 secured to the side walls 24 of the casing, the upper ends of the standard having notches 33 in which fit brackets 35 mounted ,on the side walls of the tank. These brackets are so located on the tank walls that when they engage the notches 33, the tank is supported a short distance above the oil supply pipe 20. The outlet is in the bottom of the tank, and when the stove is not in use, the tank may be inverted so that the outlet will be on top, thereby preventing leakage of oil from the tank. In order that the tank may be held in inverted position, a second set of brackets 36 is provided, said brackets being engageable with the notches 33 in the same manner as the brackets 34, whereby the tank is supported in inverted position by the standards 32.

The outlet from the tank 31 is by the way of a small opening 37 made in a screw cap 38 screwing on a nipple 39 fitted to the tank bottom. The outlet opening 37 is normally closed by a valve 40, said valve being held seated by a coiled spring 41 engaging the back of the valve. The spring is coiled around a stem 42 carried by the valve. The cap 38 carries a guide 43 for the valve stem 42, and the spring 41 is located between the upper end of this guide and the back of the valve. From the face of the valve projects a stem 44 which extends through the opening 37, the purpose of said stem being to open the valve.

When the tank 31 is in position for use, the nipple 39 and the cap 38 extend into a cup 45 which is rigidly secured to the pipe 20, said cup and pipe having registering openings 46 through which the oil flows from the cup into the pipe. The nipple also serves as a filling opening for the tank upon removing the cap. The valve guide 43 is carried by the cap, and is removable therewith.

In the bottom of the cup 45 is a perforated sheet metal plate 47 which serves as a screen to protect the openings 46, and to prevent the same from becoming clogged up. The plate has a central raised portion beneath which the openings 46 are located, and this raised portion is perforated.

The tank is self-feeding and preserves a constant level in the firing pan. A limited amount of air enters the tank through the opening 37, and displaces an equal volume of oil, which is automatically discharged into the cup from the same opening. The valve stem 44 engages the central raised portion of the perforated plate 47, and holds the valve 40 open. Upon raising the tank, the stem 44 is disengaged from the perforated plate, whereupon the spring 41 closes the valve 40. The tank may now be inverted so that the herein described valve controlled outlet will be on top, thereby effectually preventing leakage of oil from the tank.

The casing which supports the oil supply pipe and the tank seats in a shallow pan 48. This pan carries means for tilting the oil tank forwardly and rearwardly to change the feed of oil. On the bottom of the pan, at that end remote from the burner, and beneath the tank, are bearings 49 in which is journaled a rock shaft 50 extending transversely of the pan. The rock shaft has lateral bends 51 at its ends, and one of said bends terminates in a return bend- 52 having an off-set portion 53 of suflicient length to form a handle by which the shaft is adapted to be rocked in its bearings. To the outer end of the handle portion 53 is pivoted, as indicated at 54, a locking device 55 comprising a prop adapted to seat its free end in one of a series of notches 56 made in the top edge of the pan 48, on one side thereof. The extremities of the bends 51 engage the floor or other support of the stove, so that when the rock shaft is operated in one direction, that end of the pan which carries said shaft is elevated, thus tilting the oil supply pipe 20 and the parts carried thereby, this tilting movement inclining said pipe in the direction of the burner. By this method, the feed of oil can be changed in an instant for as much or as little as is desired, and the wick can be quickly put into lighting condition without having to wait for the slow feeding of oil into the cup 45. To extinguish the flame, the rock shaft is operated in the opposite direction to lower the bends 51, which tilts the parts in the opposite direction, and permits the oil to flow back in the direction of the tank, away from the burner, and in a few minutes the flame is automatically extinguished. T o relight the burner, the parts are again tilted forwardly. On the bottom of the pan 4S, opposite that end which carries the rock shaft 50, is a depending flange 57 which serves as a support for this end of the pan and the parts carried thereby.

Between the burner and the oil tank 32, is located a shield 58 which protects the tank from the heat of the burner.

At 59 is indicated the stove top, said top comprising a plate which is mounted on legs 60 between which the pan 48, and the parts carried by one end thereof extend. The oil tank 31 is located outside the legs. The top 59 has a central opening in which is mounted a grate 61, said grate being located centrally a suitable distance above the burner. The grate opening carries a depending cylindrical tube 62 which surrounds the upper portion of the burner tubes, and is open at its lower end, the tube being spaced a suitable distance from the tubes to permit the passage of air through the space.

Between the cup 4 5 and the burner. the oil supply pipe 20 is bent into a coil 63 which catches dirt and other impurities in the oil. In the pan 48, beneath the cup 45 is located a pan 64 to catch the overflow from said cup. The casing which supports the oil tank and associate parts also contains a partition which divides that part of the pan 48' which is below the oil feed from that portion of the pan which is below the burner.

In operation of the burner proper, the oil is vaporized low down in the firing pan, which is effected by locating the wick below the upstandingflanges 15, the upper edges of the wick being substantially level with the shoulders 11 and 1.2. This arrangement locates the flame lower down than in the ordinary burner, the flame being near the shoulders. By having the flame at this point more air is caused to mix with the vapor before it burns, and before it reaches the perforations in the combustion tubes 13 and 14-. The wick, even from the instant of first lighting, produces an unusually hot and smokeless miniature blue flame, by reason of the more perfect chemical union of the air and vapor before they unite with the flame. The white vapor has an afiinity for air, and the mixture of this vapor and air has a bluish tinge before it enters the flame. It will be observed that no air can enter the pan except from a point comparatively high above the top edge of the wick. The air must descend as far downwardly as the shoulders, approximately, before it can meet the base of the flame, and where vapor first enters into the flame. The vapor under the action of the early lighted flame quickly expands, and fills the pan to the top edge of the wick. The rising vapor and descending air meet at the seat of the flame, which is at the top edge of the wick, and the flame serves to create the necessary downward cur rent of air, this air joining the flow of oil vapor to form an unusual perfect chemical union as a necessary preliminary in the first stage of a perfect flame, by converting oil vapor into readily combustible gas before it enters into the flame, and by doing it in the right place and at the right time. After the first lighting of the wick, the latter is permitted to burn a few seconds so as to warm the walls of the firing pan, after which the combustion tubes are seated down upon the shoulders 11 and 12. When the flame is once under full headway, a wick is not absolutely necessary, although advantages flow from the use of the wick, among which is a better flame, and practically nosmoke or odor from the first lighting of the wick; also the particles of carbon adhere to the wick instead of upon the walls of the firing pan which latter would cause more or less odor to come from the flame. The oil supply pipe :20 serves as the axis upon which to partially rotate and to tilt the firing pan, and as said pan is located to one side of the pipe it is less exposed to the downward heat of the flame. The tank 31 discharges its oil automatically, and only as fast as it is consumed by the burner, and regardless of the amount of oil in the tank. The oil level in the firing pan is regulated by tilting the tank as already described, and also by rotating the oil supply pipe. By these means, the oil is fed with great accuracy into the firing pan, which is indispensable in the production of a perfect flame. The arrangement also serves to meet changing requirements and modified conditions incident to blue flame oil burners in relation to the exact oil level required for the time being. A hot pipe and a new wick feed oil faster than a cold pipe and an old wick. By the partial rotation of the oil supply pipe, the flame may be made larger and smaller, and at the same time the full and uniform feed of the oil to the smallest flame as well as to the largest, is preserved, which is a matter of great convenience for holding the flame, or to use a smaller flame when so desired. The air in the tube 62 is heated before it passes through the perforations in the outer combustion tube and the tube has also been dimensioned so as to admit the required volume of air to produce the best results. It is of great importance to admit the exact volume of air required. An insufficient quantity of air supplied to the burner produces an odor and a pulling of the flame, and, on the other hand, when the supply of air is too large, the flame is cooled, which also produces an odor. The tube is designed to feed just the right amount of air, and as said air is heated upon passing through the tube, perfect combustion is effected.

I do not desire to limit myself to the exact arrangement and construction of parts as herein shown and described. It will be evident that slight modifications in the arrangement and construction can be resorted to without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, and it is to be further understood that while I have shown and described one burner, which illustrates the novel and leading features of the invention, any number of burners may be applied to one and the same oil supply pipe, and operated simultaneously.

hat is claimed is:

1. In a vapor burner, an oil supply pipe having upturned ends, and removable closures for said ends, a burner carried by the pipe, a feed cup on the pipe, and an oil reservoir discharging into the feed cup.

2. I11 a vapor burner, a base, an oil supply pipe supported by the base, a burner carried by the oil supply pipe, a feed cup on said pipe, an oil reservoir discharging into the feed cup, and a rock shaft journaled under the base, said rook shaft having laterally extending portions, one of which terminates in a return bend which is elongated to form a handle for rocking the shaft.

3. In a vapor burner, an oil supply pipe, an annular firing pan connected to the pipe, and extending from one side thereof, an arm secured to the pipe, and extending from one side thereof beneath the firing pan, and supw re carried by the oil supply pipe, a feed cup on said pipe, an oil reservoir discharging into the feed cup, a rock shaft journaled under the base, said rock shaft having laterally extending portions, one of which laterally extending portions terminates in a return bend which is elongated to form a handle for the rock shaft, and a prop pivoted to the outer end of said handle, and engageable with the base.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CORODON S. CANNON.

Vitnesses FRANK IV. OLAPP, HENRY M. STRONG. 

